Crawley strengthens case to keep his Test place
National selector Ed Smith repeated the word “continuity” when he announced the squad for the Sri Lanka Test series and, after their first warm-up match, England look set to stick with the same top seven who played a large part in beating South Africa 3-1.
England will give a firmer idea of their thinking in their final practice match, a four-day game against a President’s XI in Colombo, starting on Thursday, that has first-class status, but so far seem inclined not to make changes to their batting line-up, especially with Zak Crawley showing form in the opening match that ended in a draw. Crawley scored 91, with Ollie Pope hitting 77, before England agreed to end the match 391 runs ahead of a Sri Lanka Cricket Board XI in Katunayake.
Ben Stokes scored 43 after making only three in the first innings, but Keaton Jennings fell for 23 – not quite providing enough evidence for a change to the top three, despite being selected as a specialist in Asian, spin-friendly conditions.
Crawley scored 43 in the first innings and top-scored in the match in the second, falling nine short of his hundred. In all, he hit 26 boundaries, shaping up promisingly ahead of the two-match series, which starts a week on Thursday in Galle.
Crawley battled the unfamiliar conditions, heat and humidity, to ensure he keeps his place for the first Test. Tougher examinations will come against spin on turning pitches after the surface in Katunayake was green on day one, but his runs will have eased any nerves.
“I was disappointed with the way I got out first ball after lunch, but it was nice to spend some time in the middle,” Crawley said.
Jos Buttler had valuable time in the middle in the first innings, scoring 79 off 159 balls and, with Ben Foakes batting down the order, it appears England will not be changing their wicketkeeper-batsman.
There was no point picking Joe Denly in the squad without playing him in Galle, so that leaves a settled top seven with question marks only over the bowling attack. Jack Leach did not play in this game due to a calf strain, but is expected to make his first appearance for England since before Christmas in the match on Thursday. If he bowls unscathed, he will form the spin attack with Dom Bess for the first Test. Matt Parkinson took four for 68 to boost his hopes of playing. Sam Curran had a good tour with the bat in Sri Lanka in 2018 and can swing the new ball so is likely to stay at No 8.
Without the injured Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, England are deprived of the outright pace they hoped to deploy in short bursts as a shock tactic, so will be going back to their trusted senior seamers and hoping a bit of reverse swing in Galle brings them into the match.
Sri Lanka have recalled Kusal Perera despite the batsman nursing a finger injury which is likely to mean he plays only in the second Test.